Committee Chairman Sen. Ken Yager, right, talks with Howard Switzer, head of the Green Party in Tennessee. / John Partipilo / The Tennessean

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Chas Sisk

The Tennessean

From left, Jerry Pangle of the Constitution Party, state Sen. Ken Yager, Howard Switzer of the Green Party and Jim Tomasik of the Libertarian Party gathered to discuss the standards for third parties to get on the ballot in Tennessee on Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. . / John Partipilo / The Tennessean

Lengthy battle

Third parties have fought for more than a decade to have their candidates listed on ballots with their party affiliations, rather than as “independents.” A federal judge has ruled that the state’s requirements violate third parties’ constitutional rights, but the case is under appeal.

Opening day

The second session of the 108th General Assembly is scheduled to open at noon today. Lawmakers expect to adjourn for the year in April.

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Minor political parties fighting to get on the ballot in Tennessee were given a chance to air their views Monday, but they left the Capitol disappointed.

In a meeting held on the eve of the start of the 2014 legislative session, representatives for the Libertarian, Constitution and Green parties presented plans that would have slashed the number of signatures needed for minor parties to be recognized by state election officials. But state lawmakers would agree only to a nonbinding recommendation to lower the requirement for local and statehouse races.

The decision frustrated representatives for third parties, which have sued state officials over rules that they say have been designed to thwart them.

“In my opinion, this was one step off a dog and pony show,” said Jim Tomasik, a Libertarian Party activist from Memphis. “This is just a delay to get it pushed past another election.”

Tomasik won a court order last fall to be recognized as his party’s nominee in a special election to the state House of Representatives.

Tennessee law requires candidates to gather only 25 signatures to run for office as independents, but minor parties must get far more if they want their designation to appear next to candidates’ names on the ballot. The exact number varies from election to election, but it equals 2.5 percent of the number of votes cast in the previous gubernatorial election, about 40,000 names based on turnout in 2010.

Third parties began to agitate for lower standards more than a decade ago and have scored several legal victories, including a ruling by a federal judge last summer that the state’s rules violate parties’ constitutional rights to free association and equal protection.

But legal and legislative maneuvering has delayed substantive changes in state law. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati has received briefs in the dispute but has not yet scheduled oral arguments.

The ongoing dispute led the state Senate to agree late in the 2013 session to form a study committee. The panel was supposed to meet during the break to bring together lawmakers and third-party representatives who could work toward a resolution of the issue.

That committee finally met Monday, less than a day before legislators go into session.

Mark Goins, the state’s election coordinator, read a report that indicated Tennessee’s ballot requirements are similar to those in many other states. But Howard Switzer, a Green Party activist who appeared on the gubernatorial ballot in 2010 as an independent, said those states also have tried to suppress third parties.

He presented a plan that would lower the signature requirement to just 25 names, the same number needed for independents. Others suggested reducing the requirement to 9,000 or fewer.

Committee members instead accepted a recommendation from Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, to rework the current formula. They suggested lowering the bar for local and statehouse races, based on turnout in those districts, but said the current requirement should be maintained for statewide races.

They also recommended allowing any citizen of Tennessee — not just registered voters — to sign a ballot petition for minor parties. Goins told lawmakers that that recommendation would not work because election officials have no way of verifying the residency of Tennesseans who do not appear on voter rolls.

Sen. Ken Yager, R-Harriman, the committee chairman, assured the third-party representatives that the lawmakers wanted to find a solution. But the visitors said they were disappointed that their ideas had been set aside.

“I guess that’s why I might seem a little frustrated,” said Tomasik. “There was nothing put forward by any elected official to solve the problem.”